1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus and a display method, and in particular, relates to a display apparatus that displays an electronic program guide in a screen and a display method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among TV sets and other display apparatuses that receive and display analog broadcasting or digital broadcasting, those having a function to receive EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data transmitted together with broadcast waves to display an electronic program guide in the screen based on the received EPG data have been widespread.
When an electronic program guide displayed in the screen is made to display a detailed description of a program or viewing or recording of a program is set, up/down and right/left cursor keys arranged in a remote controller, a menu button to display a menu, or a decision button to perform an operation to a selected program is generally used in the past. However, if cursor keys are used to perform an operation on a specific program, it takes time for the operation because it is necessary to first select a program using cursor keys, further press the decision button or the like to display a menu, and then select an item using the cursor keys again from the separately displayed menu.
In such a program guide, it is difficult to perform intuitive operations or consistent operations when an operation that is not directly related to a program focused by an operation of the cursor keys. When, for example, a program is set for recording, a procedure of selecting the program by the cursor keys and then, opening a submenu by a menu button and selecting “Reservation” from the submenu by pressing the decision button is generally followed. In such a case, when programs matching specific conditions are retrieved, a procedure of first pressing the menu button to open the option menu, selecting “Search” from the option menu by pressing the decision button, and then, search conditions are set is followed, making operation procedures inconsistent.
In order to solve such an issue, instead of an operation by the cursor keys, an operation of a program guide by a remote controller of a so-called free cursor capable of freely operating the cursor is proposed (See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-188390, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-270276, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-213240, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-242731, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-259004, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-12433, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-329531). Also a technique to operate a program guide by allocating specific operations to gestures of the user using a remote controller into which a device such as a gyro-sensor is incorporated (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-173003) and a technique to drag and drop an icon (such as an icon for a viewing setting operation or recording setting operation) in the screen onto each program in a program guide (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-229792) are proposed.